Watch the moment Emmerdale star finds out he’s landed huge lead role in new Game Of Thrones spin-off
A YOUNG former Emmerdale actor wiped away tears after being told he’d landed the lead role in a major Game of Thrones spin-off.
Dexter Answell, whose dad Jonathan is a member of classical X Factor group G4, was overwhelmed upon learning he’d won the role of Aegon V. Targaryen aka Egg in fantasy prequel A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms: The Hedge Knight.
Sitting on the sofa in his family home, the actor was informed over video call that he had the part.
He was told: “Well done, Dexter. You really deserved this one. You deserve every one you get but this one… you’ve gone to recalls, recalls recalls, chemistry tests. You got it.”
A gobsmacked Dexter, who played Lucas Taylor in the Dales between 2019 and 2021, said: “Shocked. I can’t believe it. I got the role.”
His dad exclaimed, “no way!” While his mum, sister and pet dog also joined in the celebrations.
Fans of the family shared their delight too, writing on Facebook: “What a fabulous moment captured and to share with us all. Congratulations Dexter!”
Another said: “Well done Dexter a star so please for you and your family.”
A third wrote: “Such an incredible role to get well done Dexter xx.”
Dexter will soon travel to Ireland where he will spend four months working on the fantasy epic, which follows Matt Smith‘s blockbuster second series of House of the Dragon.
The new prequel will follow Dunk [Peter Claffey] and Ansell’s Egg years before the events of the original Game of Thrones – A Song of Ice and Fire.
HBO offered up a short synopsis of the series last year.
It read: “A century before the events of Game of Thrones, two unlikely heroes wandered Westeros … a young, naïve but courageous knight, Ser Duncan the Tall (Claffey), and his diminutive squire, Egg (Ansell).
“Set in an age when the Targaryen line still holds the Iron Throne, and the memory of the last dragon has not yet passed from living memory, great destinies, powerful foes, and dangerous exploits all await these improbable and incomparable friends.”
Ryan Condal and Vince Gerardis, who both executive produced the original Game of Thrones, along with the House of the Dragon spin-offs, will both be returning to oversee this brand new edition.
Dexter is no stranger to big budget productions having recently starred in The Hunger Games prequel – The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes – as Young President Snow.
The official synopsis for Songbirds and Snakes reads: “Years before he would become the tyrannical President of Panem, 18-year-old Coriolanus Snow is the last hope for his fading lineage, a once-proud family that has fallen from grace in a post-war Capitol.
“With the 10th annual Hunger Games fast approaching, the young Snow is alarmed when he is assigned to mentor Lucy Gray Baird, the girl tribute from impoverished District 12. But, after Lucy Gray commands all of Panem’s attention by defiantly singing during the reaping ceremony, Snow thinks he might be able to turn the odds in their favour.
“Uniting their instincts for showmanship and newfound political savvy, Snow and Lucy’s race against time to survive will ultimately reveal who is a songbird, and who is a snake.”
